More tremors on Comoro Islands after volcano erupts*

MORONI, Jan 14 (AFP) Jan 14, 2007

Seismic tremors were recorded on the Comoro Islands for the second
consecutive day Sunday following a volcanic eruption on Mount Karthala,
residents and officials said.

The latest tremors were felt overnight and in the morning, but there
were no reports of casualties or damage on Grande Comore, the main
island in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Locals living in Mboude, around eight kilometers (five miles) south of
the capital Moroni, told AFP that they had fled their houses overnight
and sought refuge in nearby villages.

Hamid Soule, head of the Karthala observatory, told reporters that the
magnitude of the tremors had varied but that "the strongest measured at
least five on the Richter scale".

The government put the islands' residents on red alert on Saturday after
the first eruptions within the crater of the volcano, priming the police
and army to safeguard the population and property.

There have been a number of scares in recent years after activity within
the volcano, which is on the largest of the three islands that make up
the Union of the Comoros. A fourth island, Mayotte, is under French rule.

In November 2005, Karthala spewed out huge plumes of ash that blanketed
Grande Comore and temporarily deprived its 250,000 inhabitants of
drinkable water.

In April 2005, nearly 10,000 villagers living at the base of the
mountain fled their homes after similar emissions of ash started
widespread fears of drinking-water contamination.

Mount Karthala last had an overflow magma eruption in 1977, when lava
destroyed the village of Singani, some 20 kilometres south of Moroni,
and toxic gas was released into the air but did not cause any deaths.